Louisville pitcher Patrick Forbes had nine strikeouts with four walks to secure the 8-1 win over Miami in the NCAA baseball Super Regional game at Jim Patterson Stadium. For more than a decade, Coastal Carolina is more aptly defined as dominant than underdogs. Considering the 2016 national champions last lost nearly five weeks — and 23 games — ago, the Chanticleers are no surprise at the 2025 College World Series.
No. 3-ranked Arkansas takes on No. 6 LSU in a heavyweight opener Saturday night, but the perceived undercard runs deep on storylines.
Murray State (44-15) would certainly qualify as an unexpected member in the final eight gathered in Omaha, Neb., where the bracket whittles this weekend.
Arizona (44-19) opens the College World Series on Friday afternoon against Coastal Carolina (53-11), the same program they faced in the 2016 championship series on this field.
Junior catcher Caden Bodine went 4 for 10 in the Chanticleers’ super regional sweep of Auburn with two home runs and leads the team with a .332 batting average, .466 on-base percentage and in hits (75) and walks (15). Undefeated ace Jacob Morrison (11-0 with 96 strikeouts in 95 1/3 innings and sixth in the nation with a 2.15 ERA) said he’s not worried about staying perfect or winning streaks the next two weeks.
“Once an umpire says ‘play ball’ our win streak goes away,” Morrison said. “And it’s the same nine innings, we’ve got to win those games. I really don’t think that it ever carries over, is in our head, quite frankly.”
After swiping their first regional title in 86 seasons, the Racers are putting their double-dogpile win over Duke in the super regional to bed and preparing to tackle UCLA (47-16) on Saturday in Murray State’s first ever CWS game. Murray State started the season 15-5 before putting on a show to plow through the Missouri Valley Conference and has a 29-7 record in its last 36 games.
Coach Dan Skirka said the Racers understand others will view them as the David in a field of baseball Goliaths and point out that seven years into his tenure he’s still responsible for mowing the baseball field at Murray State.
“We focus on what we do have, and that’s really great people,” said Skirka, who piloted the program to a school-record 37 wins in 2024 before the current breakthrough season.
Chip Hale returns to Omaha, this time as a manager, after getting to the CWS with Arizona in 1985 and then winning one in ’86 as a player. The Big 12 champion Wildcats are hardly newbies with their most recent appearances in 2012 (national champions), 2016 and 2021 but there are no repeat teams from the 2024 series back in Nebraska. Hale said it’s a reminder not to take anything for granted.
“Bottom line with the team, what we tell them is just keep playing good baseball,” Hale said. “Doesn’t matter if you’re playing the New York Yankees or Los Angeles Dodgers or South Point High School. If you don’t play good baseball and catch the ball and throw it to first and get your bunts down and run the bases correctly, then you’re going to lose to those teams. And you can beat them if you do those things well.”
Another Friday game pits Louisville (40-22), in the CWS for the sixth time and Oregon State (47-14-1), which has three baseball national titles, last winning the series in 2018. They lost in the final in 2008 and 2013. The Beavers are led by All-Americans in outfielder Gavin Turley and shortstop Aiva Arquette. Turley has a team-leading 19 home runs and Arquette has 18 and is tops on the OSU roster with a .354 batting average
LSU (48-15) advanced to its 20th College World Series appearance on Sunday night and has its pitching set up for the showdown with Arkansas (48-13). Lefty Kade Anderson and junior right-hander Anthony Eyanson, a first-year transfer from UC San Diego, afford the Tigers a pair of aces to mix and match.
The Razorbacks lost two of three to LSU in the regular season and count on their own southpaw ace — Zach Root — fronting a staff that also includes power righty Gage Wood to steer Arkansas toward its first national title. Root is considered a top-50 draft prospect and after transferring from East Carolina, boosted his strikeout total by nearly two per nine innings.
Wood posted career highs of six innings pitched and 13 strikeouts to beat Creighton last weekend.
–Field Level Media
